Olympus TG-3 vs Sony A390

Following is a complete overview of the Olympus TG-3 and Sony A390, former is a Waterproof while the other is a Entry-Level DSLR by rivals Olympus and Sony. The sensor resolution of the TG-3 (16MP) and the A390 (14MP) is fairly well matched but the TG-3 (1/2.3") and A390 (APS-C) posses different sensor size.

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The TG-3 was announced 3 years after the A390 which is quite a serious difference as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus TG-3 being a Compact camera and the Sony A390 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before going straight to a full comparison, here is a concise synopsis of how the TG-3 matches up versus the A390 when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Olympus Tough TG-3 & Sony Alpha DSLR-A390. The whole galleries are available at Olympus TG-3 Gallery & Sony A390 Gallery.

When you are looking to carry around your camera regularly, you'll have to factor its weight and volume. The Olympus TG-3 comes with outer dimensions of 112mm x 66mm x 31mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.2") with a weight of 247 grams (0.54 lbs) while the Sony A390 has sizing of 128mm x 97mm x 86mm (5.0" x 3.8" x 3.4") along with a weight of 549 grams (1.21 lbs).

Examine the Olympus TG-3 and Sony A390 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ depending on the lens you are using at the time. Following is a front view sizing comparison of the TG-3 against the A390.

Using size and weight, the portability score of the TG-3 and A390 is 90 and 66 respectively.

Generally, it's difficult to imagine the gap between sensor sizes only by reading through technical specs. The image here should give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the TG-3 and A390.

As you have seen, both of these cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor sizes. The TG-3 using its tinier sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field tougher and the Olympus TG-3 will give you greater detail with its extra 2MP. Greater resolution can also enable you to crop images way more aggressively. The more modern TG-3 should have an edge in sensor innovation.